1991 IRS News Releases

News Releases are issued by the IRS
whenever there is information of importance that needs to be released
to the public or practitioner community.
All 1991 releases are included here except those pertaining to IRS personnel changes

The numbering system identifies the year and the number of the News Release.
Fact Sheets are identified with filenames beginning "FS-91'" followed
by the number of the fact sheet.

General Analytics Corporation (GAC) today was awarded two more contracts that will provide telecommunications equipment and services for Internal Revenue Service and other Department of Treasury offices in ten central and southwest states for up to 10 years.

The holiday season is here and the Internal Revenue Service says it may have a gift for you -- your income tax refund check. The IRS says 55,000 taxpayers have not yet claimed their 1990 federal income tax refunds totaling more than $25 million.

General Analytics Corporation (GAC) today was awarded two contracts that will provide telecommunications equipment and services for Internal Revenue Service and other Department of Treasury offices in Alaska and Hawaii for up to 10 years.

TRW, Inc was awarded a contract today to provide integration support services for the Internal Revenue Service's tax systems modernization (TSM) program Under the terms of the integration support contract, IRS said that TRW will help implement multiple advanced technology-based systems.

Michael P Dolan has been named deputy commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, the highest ranking career post in the agency The IRS also announced that John D Johnson, now the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), will move to Atlanta to replace Dolan. The new CFO will be Phil Brand, currently the assistant commissioner for taxpayer services.

Taxpayers looking ahead and planning for their 1992 taxes will find larger standard deductions, personal exemptions and earned income credits, plus wider tax brackets that begin at higher income levels. Under federal tax law, these amounts are indexed each year so that inflation does not erode these benefits or push taxpayers into higher tax brackets.

Representatives of six organizations that supply taxpayer and the IRS with large numbers of income and tax data on information documents today received the first IRS. Quality Supplier Awards The awards were presented for transmitting, via magnetic media, information documents with no formatting or validity errors.

Profits of foreign-controlled US corporations reached $112 billion of r1988, twice the $56 billion reported for 1987. This is just one of the facts reported in the fall 1991 issue of the Internal Revenue Service quarterly publication, the "Statistics of Income Bulletin," available now.

A year long effort by the Internal Revenue Service to increase the number of large cash transaction reports filed by businesses appears to be paying off. According to the IRS the number of cash reports filed has increased substantially -- from about 29,000 in fiscal year 1990 to almost 60,000 in fiscal year 1991.

Recent research confirms that electronic tax return filing has become a popular option for more than seven million US taxpayers. This research also confirms that about 75 percent of the persons filing electronically are under the age of 45 and 62 percent have income under $30,000.

Individual income tax return statistics for tax year 1988 show adjusted gross income up 111 percent. This is according to the newly released Internal Revenue Service statistics of income report, "Individual Income Tax Returns 1988," the first complete study of its kind, available now Most provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 went into effect that year.

File by phone with TeleFile, Print out a 1040PC answer sheet with your home computer and mail it. Have an electronic filer zap your return to the Internal Revenue Service. Or just send in your W-2s with a Form 1040EZ and let the IRS do all the work.

A new publication, the "Compendium of Studies of Tax-Exempt Organizations, 1974-87" contains all the articles written on tax-exempt organizations by the Statistics of Income Division of the Internal Revenue Service.

Four million taxpayers may soon be asked for correct identification numbers by banks or companies that made interest, dividend or other payments to them during 1990. Failure to provide the numbers can result in a 20 percent backup withholding of federal income tax on future payments.

The Internal Revenue Service today announced that interest rates for the calendar quarter beginning October 1, 1991, will remain at nine percent for overpayments, ten percent for underpayments, and twelve percent for large corporate underpayments.

The average individual income tax liability for 1987 was $4,257, a decrease of $117 from the $4,374 for 1986, according to the summer 1991 issue of the Internal Revenue Service quarterly publication, the "Statistics of Income Bulletin".

The Internal Revenue Service Commissioner's Advisory Group will meet at the National Office; 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW; Washington, DC; on Thursday and Friday, August 29 and 30 The meetings in Room 3313 will begin at 8:30 am on August 29 and at 10:30 am on August 30, concluding about mid-day on the 30th.

The Internal Revenue Service said today that it is reconsidering its plans for an automated extension process. As a result, APEX -- the Automated Processing of Extensions -- will not begin in 1992 as previously announced.

Individual income tax return statistics for 1989 show adjusted gross income to be nearly $33 trillion, according to the Spring 1991 issue of the Internal Revenue Service quarterly production, "Statistics of Income Bulletin," available now.

The IRS is proposing new rules to close a door that lets money launderers and tax cheaters avoid being detected by cash transaction reports filed by businesses when the money is spent for expensive cars, antiques, furs, jewelry or other luxury items.

The IRS Commissioner's Advisory Group will meet on April 24 and 25 at the IRS National Office in Washington. The group will review the IRS' experience in the 1991 tax filing season and will discuss Compliance 2000 -- a developing IRS initiative to change the way the agency plans its enforcement and education strategies. Also on the agenda is a report on standardizing forms used for filing information returns, a proposal for a national multi-agency wage reporting system and a current test the IRS is doing of a taxpayer self-audit proposal.

File your tax return, and pay what you can now. That's the advice the Internal Revenue Service provided today for taxpayers whom mistakenly believe they cannot file their individual tax returns on time this year because they are unable to pay the amount owed in full with the return.

If you haven't filed your 1990 federal income tax return yet, you have only a few days left before April 15. And you're not alone Today the IRS offered some advice on how to avoid some common mistakes often made in a last-minute rush to file.

Certification forms are now available from the Internal Revenue Service for US residents who receive interest, dividends and royalties from payers in Spain and wish to claim a reduced rate of withholding.

The Internal Revenue Service's Office of Chief Counsel will reorganize over the next several months to provide better coordination with counsel's National office staff and between that staff and field offices.

With fewer than three weeks left in the 1991 tax season, some taxpayers may be thinking about getting more time to file their federal income tax returns. The Internal Revenue Service expects about five million taxpayers to request an automatic extension of time to file this year.

Members of the Armed Forces and support personnel who served in Operation Desert Storm have at least 180 days -- and in most cases up to 285 days -- from the date they leave the combat zone to file their 1990 federal income tax returns.

Some veterans who reported interest on dividends from certain government-issued life insurance policies may now want to claim a refund or 1987 taxes. For most veterans the deadline for amending 1987 returns and claiming a refund is April 1991.

The Internal Revenue Service already has received 63 million electronic returns this year, 100,000 more than its projection for all of 1991 Texans lead in electronic filing, with over half a million returns Other high-volume states -- each with over 300,000 returns -- are, in descending order, Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, California, Georgia and New York.

The Internal Revenue service today announced that interest rates for the calendar quarter beginning April 1, 1991, will be nine percent for overpayments, ten percent for underpayments, and twelve percent for large corporate underpayments.

Halfway through the filing season, the Internal Revenue Service today said that some progress is being made in reducing common taxpayer errors on returns and offered some tips to those taxpayers who have not yet filed.

The IRS has issued temporary regulations relating to the imposition of penalties for failure to comply with information reporting requirement. These regulations reflect changes to the law made by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 and appear in today's Federal Register.

Organizations Set Up to Help People Who Serve in Operations Desert Storm

Organizations set up to help people who serve in Operation Desert Storm that apply for federal tax exemption should write "Operation Desert Storm" at the top of their applications IRS said this will ensure that the applications are reviewed and processed quickly.

For taxpayers expecting refunds or needing help with their federal income tax returns, now is the best time for action Early filers should get their refunds in four to six weeks and IRS staffers are getting fewer calls than last year.

Although military personnel and others serving in the Operation Desert Storm combat zone have an automatic extension of time to file their tax returns, the IRS today gave special guidance to those who are due tax refunds and want to file early.

The Honorable JJ Pickle announced today that the Subcommittee on oversight will conduct hearings to review reforms to establish taxpayer safeguards in dealing with the IRS and to protect the rights of taxpayers under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).